Ferguson clashes: 2 shot, 31 arrested

Violence continued in Ferguson, Missouri, late Monday night and into Tuesday morning, as two men were shot during demonstrations and the police again used tear gas in the wake of the fatal shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.

During a news conference early Tuesday morning, Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson said “officers came under heavy fire” Monday evening. Johnson, who has overseen security operations during the Ferguson protests since Thursday night, said a “tiny minority of lawbreakers” threw bottles and Molotov cocktails at the police, set two fires in the streets and opened fire on officers, according to video of Johnson’s news conference from NBC News. He added that “not a single bullet was fired by officers Monday night.”

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Police clash with protesters in Ferguson

Thirty-one people were arrested on Monday evening, Johnson said, including at least one individual from California and one from New York. During his news conference, the captain displayed two confiscated handguns and a Molotov cocktail obtained by the police after the weapons had been used by a “small number of violent agitators” trying to create “chaos” in an otherwise peaceful demonstration.

Police officials acknowledged that officers used tear gas against the crowd. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that police used at least three canisters of tear gas against protesters when they refused to leave the parking lot of a QuikTrip.

Johnson also acknowledged that police officers used a SWAT truck and another large vehicle to collect wounded people in the crowd. Earlier in the evening, he told reporters that all the people arrested “weren’t being peaceful.”

“We do not want to lose another life in this community,” a visibly upset Johnson said during the news conference.

In an interview on MSNBC later Tuesday morning, Johnson said that four St. Louis County police officers were suffering from minor injuries suffered Monday night.

Two Missouri Democrats — Sen. Claire McCaskill and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver — also said on Tuesday that they didn’t think President Barack Obama should visit Ferguson. The senator said a presidential visit would present “practical” concerns given that local authorities are already stretched thin in overseeing the protests.

“I don’t think the president needs to come to Ferguson,” Cleaver said on MSNBC. “It adds another distortion,” adding that Ferguson needs to unite as a community and reach a “sense of calm.”

McCaskill also praised Attorney General Eric Holder, with whom she will meet along with Sen. Roy Blunt in Ferguson on Wednesday after the president deployed him to the Missouri city. The senator said the Justice Department’s parallel investigation was crucial to earn the trust of the community, given a “natural distrust” of state and local authorities on civil rights issues.

“I want to make sure that with Eric Holder’s visit tomorrow, the people in the community are reassured that there is a very, very competent set of eyes looking over the shoulder of every state and local investigator in the community,” she said.

Monday marked the first time that state National Guard forces arrived in Ferguson, deployed by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon after Sunday marked perhaps the most violent night of protests since Brown’s death on Aug. 9. Brown’s family also held a news conference Monday morning to discuss a preliminary autopsy that reported Brown was shot at least six times, including twice in the head.

After declaring a state of emergency and a midnight-5 a.m. curfew for Saturday and Sunday, Nixon called off the curfew for Monday. The governor has not yet announced a decision on a curfew for Tuesday or beyond.

On Tuesday, Johnson said that he didn’t think lifting the curfew was a mistake and said he had not heard any discussions about reinstating a curfew.

Among those arrested was Getty Images staff photographer Scott Olson, who was taking photos of the protests. “We at Getty Images stand firmly behind our colleague Scott Olson and the right to report from Ferguson,” Pancho Bernasconi, Getty Images vice president of news, said in a statement. “Getty Images is working to secure his release as soon as possible.”

The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday extended its ban on low-flying planes over Ferguson for another week. In a notice released Monday evening, the FAA said that the ban on aircraft flying at 3,000 feet and below will be in place through Aug. 25. The agency initially instituted its ban Aug. 12, and it was set to expire on Monday. As it reported last week, the FAA said the reason for the ban is “to provide a safe environment for law enforcement activities.”

Also on Monday, the Ferguson-Florissant School District announced it would be closing schools for the entire week to “allow needed time for peace and stability to be restored to our community.”

Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed Brown, has not been charged or arrested. He was placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting.

A funeral for Brown has been planned for Monday, the family’s attorney Benjamin Crump said, The Associated Press reported. Crump said a location and time for the funeral has not been finalized.

In a separate shooting Tuesday in St. Louis, unrelated to the incident in Ferguson, St. Louis police shot and killed a man who was a suspect of a theft and was “acting erratically, armed with a knife.”

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said the suspect did not respond to verbal commands from the officers to drop his weapon and enclosed upon the officers, who fired their weapons.

“I think we can all understand what’s going on in Ferguson, but I think every police officer that’s out here has a right to defend themselves and the community,” Dotson told reporters at a press conference, when asked if he told officers to used utmost caution following the tensions in Ferguson.

Dotson said the officers involved will be on administrative duty until the “until we can determine the facts.”